I desperately needed a computer mouse this week and all of my choices in the local retail market came with excessive plastic packaging. I am reusing a flat portion of the plastic as a super heavy duty laminate for my list of emergency phone numbers. I try not to have a cluttered desk and, as a result, my very important emergency phone number list gets used as a coaster.
I am living in a very out of the way place, so my options are limited. Ordering online would cause a pretty big carbon footprint, especially if I had to get the mouse shipped to friends in Canada so they could mail it to me here. Most of my wonderful readers have the option of ordering from Amazon and choosing Frustration-Free Packaging. I wasn’t aware of this option until today and I think it is awesome. Manufacturers like Microsoft send stock to Amazon with recyclable cardboard packaging instead of the plastic clam shells that are designed for store displays. Buying something online and having it shipped in an over-sized plastic display package that in turn is placed in a larger than necessary cardboard box is ridiculous. Ridiculous packaging is something that knows no limits. When you buy a mouse like the one pictured here, the box that it is originally packaged in is sufficient for shipping. It’s the opposite of ridiculous.
Buying a used mouse is an even more environmentally responsible choice. Most of the people that I know use computer mice until they cease to function. In a large population center there must be some people who upgrade because they need a mouse that is color matched to their laptop. There are probably gamers who regularly upgrade to a faster mouse. There may be people who think their mouse is broken when really there is just a matrix of dust and elbow grease blocking the optical aperture (eww).
